And, on the surface at least, the Florida Legislature is responding. A dozen bills calling for stronger immigration enforcement and regulations have been filed in the Legislature this year - more than double the number last year. The movement is in step with dozens of other states, which are trying to confront illegal immigration themselves in the absence of federal reform. But in a state with the third-largest immigrant population in the country - an estimated 3.5 million - these bills already face resistance from business- and immigrant-advocacy groups.

And top leaders in state government are not showing much support, either. Gov. Charlie Crist and House Speaker Marco Rubio, who have been at odds on many issues, have shown no signs of pushing tougher immigration laws. "The agriculture and construction and hospitality industries in Florida would collapse without undocumented immigrants," said Rep. David Rivera, a Miami Republican and close friend of Rubio. "The prospects for success for these types of proposals are dim."

Some leading Republicans see a harsh stance on immigration as a losing position for the GOP, which has slipped in approval among the nation's fastest-growing voting bloc: Latinos, who now represent11 percent of registered voters. "Politicians that use this as a wedge issue, it's a loser," former Gov. Jeb Bush said of immigration in an October interview with The Hoover Institution. "To totally disarm a group that is the only group that is growing in our country we do it at our peril. It's wrong and it's stupid." (RINO, Poppa Bush Cartel Barf Alert  FlA)

The bills in Florida's Legislature would, among other things, penalize farmers and government contractors caught hiring undocumented workers, place stricter regulations on public benefits, and require local police to notify federal authorities after arresting illegal immigrants. Currently, certain regulations, such as having state contractors participate in a federal program to verify their employees' legal status, are voluntary. These bills seek to make them mandatory and allow Florida to levy penalties for violations. Supporters of the bills say they address the concerns of Florida voters, two-thirds of whom said in a December Quinnipiac University poll that they favor stricter enforcement of immigration laws over integrating illegal immigrants into the United States. The bills' supporters say stopping illegal immigrants from moving to Florida will save money for legal residents and citizens, and make competition more fair for businesses. "The state needs to level the playing field for lawful businesses," said David Caulkett, vice president of Floridians for Immigration Reform. "The frustration is just built up."

But Floridians' positions on immigration are not clear-cut. Exit polls in the state's Jan. 29 presidential primary showed that nearly 60 percent of voters would allow illegal immigrants to stay as temporary workers or gain a path to citizenship. Critics of the immigration bills say they would force businesses to increase wages and to pay more for benefits, which would make it difficult for them to afford workers and would raise prices for consumers. "People need to think very carefully about what they want because of the economic consequences," said Sheila Hopkins, associate director for social concerns at the Florida Catholic Conference. "In Florida particularly, we are very vulnerable because of agriculture and tourism being our two biggest industries."

Florida's influx of immigration bills this year follows a national trend. Nationally, the number of immigration laws adopted by states last year nearly tripled since 2006, from 84 to 240, according to a 2007 report by the National Conference of State Legislatures. (2008 will also be a record year  FlA) Most aspects of immigration policy, such as border control, are handled by the federal government (which has been a disaster under the Bush Administration and a McCain Administration will be substantially worse  FlA). Immigration debates in legislatures across the country largely focus on identification issues, such as driver licenses, employment and public health and education benefits.

The most comprehensive bill under consideration in Florida this year was modeled after a package adopted in Oklahoma last year (11 states including Florida are following Oklahomas lead  See my FR Straight Talk profile page for more info  FlA). The bill, filed by Rep. Don Brown, R-DeFuniak Springs, targets businesses who hire illegal immigrants and requires law enforcement to determine the legal status of those arrested for drunken driving or boating. It would also force local law enforcement to share information with federal agencies about the legal status of immigrants. Opponents say the legislation could result in racial profiling and discourage immigrants from reporting crimes. Proponents say it would encourage deportation of illegal immigrants.

Brown said he decided to focus on immigration after receiving a "vehement response" to an e-mail cartoon he forwarded last year that said, "Don't forget to pay your taxes on April 15. 12 million illegal aliens are counting on you." (He later apologized to legislators for the e-mail). "It became more apparent to me that there was a more of a problem there than I had realized," said Brown, adding that he does not expect his bill to pass easily. "Florida's not Oklahoma," Brown said. "It's going to be up to every member of the legislature to act according to their conscience and their constituency." Except for a bill to prohibit the use of the term "illegal alien" in state documents, all of the immigration bills in the Florida Legislature this year have been filed by Republicans, who control both chambers of the Legislature and the governor's office.

But in this demographically diverse state, one Republican legislator's illegal immigration crackdown is another's political minefield. "For some people this is a real winner, but for a lot of Republicans in this state immigration is not a real winner," said Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, D-Sarasota. "I just don't know if this is an issue the speaker and some of his closest allies want to see debated on the floor of the House."

“”The agriculture and construction and hospitality industries in Florida would collapse without undocumented immigrants,” said Rep. David Rivera, a Miami Republican and close friend of Rubio. “The prospects for success for these types of proposals are dim.””

Collapse=might have to raise wage rates and hire Americans who might complain when the manager abuses them.

2
posted on 02/25/2008 12:21:01 PM PST
by Shermy
(Huckabee in the Cayman Islands while his wife was in a Las Vegas casino. $$ Laundromat??)

Here is the main issue. Elected officials are supposed to listen to the people, that is why they were elected. Unelected officials are put in place by those elected officials, they are supposed to listen to the people. I forgot one thing, that is not a reality in these times.

I was watching Sean Hannity’s, The Price We Pay, last night on FOX. This s—t’s going to have to reach a breaking point—I think they are already there in California. It’s awful with the gang members and the collapse of hospital and other services. Something’s going to have to give sometime.

It's a shame because California is a beautiful place and I feel sorry for the conservatives and other decent people that live out there. I'm getting to where I don't think I want to even go there to visit. I never been, but I don't think I would want to go. I know eventually we are all going to be affected. We are already seeing a mini California situation here where I live in CO, but it's almost like CA is a lost cause at this point.

Yes, we elect them BUT the lobbyists pay them to run. So if we stop electing THAT particular politico the lobbies just ‘hire’ another one to run. If we stop voting completely the lobbies will ‘hire’ people for that too.

We have lost control of out government (state and fed) and I see no way of getting that control back with out the ‘fourth box’.

7
posted on 02/25/2008 12:34:13 PM PST
by Hazcat
(We won an immigration BATTLE, the WAR is not over. Be ever vigilant.)

Also, the Gov and GOP leadership is pro-illegal/anti-American...and infested w Hispano-Racism. There probably will not be a pro-American/anti-illegal piece of legislation unless there is a veto proof majority

As to Floridians supporting illegal alienism...not here in Orlando. We have a special election going on, and the one GOP candidate (Sean Campbell...I think that is his name) is camapigning on a pro-American/anti-illegal platform....in fact Campbell was seriously injured a few years ago in a traffic accident caused by a drunk illegal alien...lets see the Hispano-Racists and the Chamber of Communists whine about that...

11
posted on 02/25/2008 12:41:45 PM PST
by UCFRoadWarrior
(You know what they call a McCain supporter? A Liberal)

Kind of funny. We here in Florida hear of ICE raids in Arkansas and elsewhere where they raid a factory or meat packing plant.
Here in Florida ICE could raid whole cities like Indiantown, Belle Glades, LaBelle or South Bay and take away at least half the city and deport their illegal asses.
But here we have very rich families, politically active and large contributers to both parties.
Ones like the Fanjul family that own thousands of acres of sugar farms that get extremely high subsidies from the govt. and pollute the air, land and water.
See to harvest sugar you need to burn the mature field to rid the plant of very sharp grassy parts that cut one who harvest it.
But hey we’re talking about big contributions to politicians so they are protected and to hell with the affected populace and whatever ailments they may get.
Then there is the vacation industry of Orlando, Miami, etc, you don’t want to have to raise prices by paying real Americans now do ya?
Illegals here in Florida
At times you can’t see a half mile because the set fire to hundreds of acres at a time and let it burn off the unnecessary parts of sugar plants. That seeps in to the water supply.
But hey we’re talking big contributors.
Illegals in Florida are a protected class.

The agriculture and construction and hospitality industries in Florida would collapse without undocumented immigrants, said Rep. David Rivera, a Miami Republican

Using these morons' logic, we should invite the Mafia in because they run these businesses pretty well, too. Heck, they even made Las Vegas the place it is today. So what if they were doing crimes - they made the tourist industry thrive.

Miami Beach's tourist business depends a lot on prostitution. Why don't we give the hookers amnesty.

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year. http://tinyurl.com/zob77

2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens. http://www.cisorg/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens. http://www.cisorg/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html

5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare and Social Services by the American taxpayers. http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html

9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens. http://transcripts..cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two-and-a-half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html

11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border. Homeland Security Report. http://tinyurl.com/t9sht

12 The National Policy Institute, "estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period. http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf

13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin. http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm

14. "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States". http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml

I'm getting to where I don't think I want to even go there to visit. I never been, but I don't think I would want to go.

Illegal immigration has almost zero effect on the quality of a visitor's vacation experience. It primarily affects the quality of life of lower-middle and middle class areas which haven't historically had to deal with such problems. Illegal gang activity isn't a problem in tourist destinations like Sausalito, Carmel, Malibu, Newport Beach, and La Jolla that it is in Stockton, Fresno, Bakersfield, Riverside, and Santa Ana. It's the long-time residents of blue-collar, formerly majority-white neighborhoods in cities like the latter who are really feeling the effects.

You can still have a better vacation in California than almost anywhere else in the county.

16
posted on 02/25/2008 12:55:39 PM PST
by Mr. Jeeves
("Wise men don't need to debate; men who need to debate are not wise." -- Tao Te Ching)

If politicians in Florida fail to pass serious immigration laws then I hope the whole state is totally overrun by hispanic gangs. I hope crime skyrockets and I hope concerned citizens begin defending themselves with serious firepower. I also hope the state legislature building gets covered in gang grafitti and that every member of the legisture is assaulted by a group of illegals.

This is the only thing that will get the attention of these moronic politicians.

19
posted on 02/25/2008 1:02:46 PM PST
by navyguy
(Some days you are the pigeon, some days you are the statue.)

"Politicians that use this as a wedge issue, it's a loser," former Gov. Jeb Bush said of immigration in an October interview with The Hoover Institution. "To totally disarm a group that is the only group that is growing in our country we do it at our peril. It's wrong and it's stupid." (RINO, Poppa Bush Cartel Barf Alert  FlA)

Jeb is like all the other Globalists. He expects us to give up our country, our jobs, our language and our cultural heritage to any down trodden leper who has the courage to invade us. Surrender our country, but don't dare rock the boat for his Globalist business interests. Why doesn't he defend the USA and say that the invaders do it at their peril and then advocate unleashing the United States Military to aggressively defend our country. The answer is simple. Jeb has left the United States and joined the Global Nation.

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